Heroes
by WritingRamblingRavenclaw
Summary: [She didn't know how long she would have to hold them, but it didn't matter. They needed her. She needed them. Molly Prewett rocked her baby brothers to sleep.]
1. lullaby

She was five years old when her maternal instincts kicked in for the first time. The house was cold and full of people, _so many people_, unnaturally quiet. They all sat in silence, gathering around the living room in their tattered dark clothing, muttering things like, _tombstone order _and _catering for the wake. _No one spoke to her. They looked at her occasionally, their eyes big and wet, and she looked away quickly.

_They told her Mummy wasn't coming back._

No one seemed to remember the babies, except for when they cried. She hated the look that her father gave them, disgust and anger; as if they'd done something wrong.

As if they'd killed their mother.

They were in their nursery, the one her mother had carefully decorated, squealing with joy as she thought of babies, _twins. _She had never seen her mother happier than the day that she told them about the babies.

"_We'll have two new babies to play with, darling…won't that be nice?"_

She hadn't played with the babies at all. She hadn't played anything in three days.

She heard the voices.

_"We'll need to write the notice, you know, for the Daily Prophet…"_

"_Have you heard back from the hall yet?"_

"_How's Molly doing, dear?"_

She frowned. They were talking about her now, their voices hushed and urgent.

She covered her ears, and peered into the nursery.

The babies smiled at her, beckoning her towards them with their bright, twinkling eyes. She walked cautiously, taking small, slow steps. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to see them.

She came closer, standing over their crib. They were still for a moment, until one- they hadn't been named yet, in all the tragic haste- started to move, finally bursting into tears.

"_Quiet." _She warned him softly, _"they hate it when you cry."_

He didn't stop. He began to wail. She bit her lip, looking around shiftily to make sure no one would witness, before reaching into the crib.

She picked him up, rocked him gently, until he smiled into her shoulders.

The other one began to cry. She picked him up as well, balancing both babies on either cushion-like side.

"_Shh._" She whispered in the baby's ear, _"It will be all right."_

She was talking to herself more than to the babies.

She didn't know how long she would have to hold them, but it didn't matter. They_ needed _her.

_She needed them._

Molly Prewett rocked her baby brothers to sleep.

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**a/n: I would greatly appreciate some feedback on this- I've written a bit more but I may want to leave it as a oneshot, so I'd love to hear your opinion. :) Don't hit and run!!**


	2. going on

They never quite forgave her for the names.

She had always loved those names, long and ancient sounding; noble, rhythmic names. Hero's names. They would be heroes, she decided, legends.

_Gideon and Fabian Prewett._

She worried about them often, as it was her duty- she was always the one to look after them.

Her father had never forgiven them for killing the love of his life. He tried to love them, she had seen him try to love them, but every time he attempted a smile or a hug, he would eventually collapse into that old look of anger, disgust.

It was Molly's job to love them. It was his job to keep them fed.

Molly's job never seemed difficult to her. She adored her brothers, bright little things with wild senses of adventure, no matter how tiresome they could be.

They had always had distinct personalities.

Gideon loved being Molly's hero. He was bright and angel-faced and dreamed of being an Auror. After one day of playing, saving the damsel in distress three times in a row, he told her that he was going to defeat every dark wizard there was. He told everyone that, confident as anything.

His father laughed, but Molly had faith in him.

Gideon grinned as Molly called them her heroes.

Fabian looked away.

The day Molly Prewett left for Hogwarts, her brothers were six years old.

It was the hardest day of her life. She was a nervous wreck, more serious and motherly than any other eleven-year-old anyone had ever met. She kissed them each four times before boarding the train, hugged them until they broke away, gasping for air.

She half-smiled at her father awkwardly as he patted her shoulder, and hugged Fabian again.

She boarded the train and promptly burst into tears.

She would have liked a compartment alone but there were none left. She had wasted time on her goodbyes. She found a compartment with a quiet boy who didn't make fun of her at all and introduced himself as Arthur.

_Arthur. _Another hero's name. Arthur was tall and smiling and had hair just the same shade as Gideon's. He had a strange, awkward laugh and dancing blue eyes and she loved him immediately.

Arthur was sorted into Gryffindor, as she'd known he would be. Arthur would be a hero too, she decided. She was much more surprised to find herself in the house. She was never the brave one. _She _wouldn't grow up to be the hero. She blushed as she joined the table, feeling unworthy among the noble souls with heroic names.

Within a week, Arthur was her closest friend, and by her third year in school he was much more. She still loved Gideon and Fabian best, she assured them in her letters. She would always love them best. Somebody needed to.

She worried about her brothers, with their bright eyes and hero's spirits, shut up in that tiny house with a father that could never love them.

They started school when she was in her fifth year, and for the first time she didn't weep as she boarded the Hogwarts Express. She talked cheerfully of Hogwarts and all of the things they would do, the Prewett family of heroes. Fabian and Gideon sat in her compartment, and her friends gushed over how adorable they were, little boys who would grow into such handsome heartbreakers.

_Heroes, _Molly corrected them with a smile, _they'll grow up to be heroes._

Gideon grinned, winking at her with his twinkling eyes, but Fabian suddenly looked unsure. Molly nodded at him slightly, wide eyes reassuring. He smiled tentatively.

They were both sorted into Gryffindor, though Fabian took longer. _Was he feeling unworthy? _Molly wondered. She had felt unworthy. _Perhaps they weren't so different from her after all._

She shook her head, smiling at her brothers, who were eating quickly on either side of her. Impossible. Gideon and Fabian were sure to be heroes. Gideon and Fabian were better than she was.

Gideon was popular right away, attracting attention as a brilliant Quidditch player, brilliant student, always earning points and helping others. Girls loved him, handsome and sweet, nice to everyone. Molly's friends had been wrong; Gideon Prewett never broke anyone's heart.

_Our hero, _people would call him, once he started as the lead chaser in his second year. Molly smiled with pride everytime she heard the words.

Fabian was still quiet, often going unnoticed standing next to his twin, Gryffindor' larger than life, handsome hero. He was more introverted, but still well liked. People admired Gideon, but Fabian was _respected. _Fabian Prewett was smart, and honest; loyal to a fault. It wasn't until third year when someone besides Molly called him a hero, though.

He was crossing the hallway to take a shower when he saw it. An older Slytherin was harassing a first year girl; a smart, fiery Gryffindor who Fabian had developed a soft spot for, over the past months. He wasn't sure what to do, at first. Gideon would have saved her without hesitating, he knew, but he wasn't Gideon.

It was her face that convinced him, her strong, stubborn face drawn into a trembling mask. She spotted him from across the hall, navy eyes lighting with a flicker of hope, pleading towards him.

_Be my hero._

A flick of his wand, and Fabian Prewett blew Lucius Malfoy across the room.

He lost thirty points for Gryffindor, but Molly was proud of him. The girl kissed him on the cheek. All in all, it wasn't too bad.

Molly's graduation came closer. She didn't sleep for weeks, before her education came to an end. Leaving her brothers, her little heroes, was terrifying. Four years seemed like an eternity, and the two weeks left before it started seemed like half a minute.

Gideon laughed when she told him that she was worried about leaving, hugged her and said that they would be all right. He and Fabian could look after themselves, now. They were practically grown-up, anyway.

Fabian was worried as much as she was, the day she packed her bags. He didn't know if he could be a hero, without her there to convince him that he was capable. He couldn't even get the girl, his best friend. The only one who he'd ever saved had chosen a new hero.

_Fabian still didn't feel worthy. Fabian still worried that he'd be left behind._

Graduation came and went. Arthur proposed to her as they boarded the train for the last time, and they were married by the end of the summer. Gideon and Fabian walked her down the aisle. Their father made up some excuse, never showed up.

She pretended not to mind. Gideon and Fabian were the only family she needed, she reminded herself as she shook the tears out of her eyes.

Molly went off to live her new life, but only after she'd kissed her brothers six times each, hugged them so hard that their lungs almost burst.

She wrote to them every day, right up until she had her first child, a boy. He had a sweet face and predictably red hair and for the first time in her life, she loved someone besides her brothers the most.

William Weasley. It wasn't quite a heroic name; Gideon and Fabian had told her that they wouldn't allow her to curse her child as she had cursed them. Arthur liked William. Molly would tolerate it, at least.

William Weasley didn't need to be a hero, just yet. He was too young, too small. He was safe, so long as he had a mother to hold him.

The same couldn't be said for the rest of them.

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**a/n: Please review!! **


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